


"He likes you."

by WithYouTillTheEndOfTheShield



Series: Radio Silence [1]
Category: Aliens (1986)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-04
Updated: 2015-04-04
Packaged: 2018-03-21 06:50:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,696
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3682155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WithYouTillTheEndOfTheShield/pseuds/WithYouTillTheEndOfTheShield
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Adams, that buddy of yours, Hicks?"<br/>"What about him?"<br/>"I think he's staring at me."</p>
            </blockquote>





	"He likes you."

"That new analyst isn't so bad..."

The words still reverberated in her head as she stepped out of the mess hall and into the much cooler corridor. The other Marines milled around her casually, passing jokes between them, a couple giving her odd looks as they went past, but most ignoring her presence. Just like most of the other teams she'd worked with since she'd graduated.

She hadn't gone the traditional route after graduating university. Most people with her degree went on to work for big companies, went into politics, became Weyland-Yutani representatives. She went into the private sector, and automatically asked to be transferred to work on missions with Marines. Initially they were reluctant, but after seeing her ties to the corp, her father's service record, she was allowed ( _'for a trial period **only** ,_ _Mitchell'_ ) to work with the corp on the  _Francesca_. It had worked out surprisingly well, and she was allowed to work rotations with other teams for the next four years. And then she'd wound up as the new recruit all over again on the  _Sulaco_ , with a fresh bunch of faces. 

Well, not entirely fresh. She grinned as she caught the eye of Adams, one of the medics on the team. Adams was leaning on the opposite wall of the corridor, smirking. As Dana approached she gestured around. "Is it everything you hoped for, Mitchell?"

Dana laughed. "I've seen less impressive bunches, that's for sure."

The two women walked, hands thrust deep into their pockets as they talked. They talked about work, about booze, about men, and about what Adams was planning to do after she left the corp. ("I can't hold a gun in the air for the rest of my life, Dana.")

"So what  _are_ you planning on doing?" She pressed her friend as they passed Sargent Apone. Adams saluted her superior officer before shrugging, for the first time looking almost... Coy. "Adams?"

"I don't know..." She looked around distractedly. "Maybe... Settle down with a guy? I don't know, I was thinking about opening up my own place. Maybe... Maybe like a bar or something?"

Dana raised an eyebrow. This was a new turn. "Uh huh..." _  
_

A Marine passed by them, dressed, like the others in a brown tank top and fatigues. "Adams."

"Hudson." The woman smiled a little as she responded, and Dana could have sworn she was checking the guy out as he continued past them down the corridor. She followed Adams' gaze, before turning back to her friend with a grin. 

"He's cute." She said, watching for her friend's reaction. She was about 90% sure Adams was sleeping with someone on the ship, and her goal was, by the end of her first operation on the _Sulaco_ , to find out who. There was no give in the other woman's face though, no sign to tell her anything. So she dropped it, went for a different approach. "Got any other cute guys on board?"

"You're here to work, remember?" Adams rolled her eyes. "And besides, it's always been more fun to watch you scope out and target guys all on your own, without any help."

"Bitch." Dana said with a wink. Her mind went back to the mess hall. And to that Marine. The one who hadn't realized she'd been a few feet away from her when he'd spoken. "Although, I may have already found one, all on my own."

One of Adams' eyebrows went for her hairline. "Already? You've been here for  _breakfast_ , Dana."

"I work fast." She joked as they headed for the small quarters she'd been given on board. It doubled as a bedroom and office, apparently. "Come on in."

They walked in to the bare room, and Adams threw herself down on the bed instantly, giving a deep sigh. "Almost like home."

"Seriously?" Dana tested out the mattress with one hand, impressed. "Hmm... That is good. Normally I just get a standard issue cot like you guys."

"God, I wish we slept on beds like this." The other woman muttered. "Anyway, who's the unlucky Marine you want to share this fine piece of bedding with?"

Dana shot her a glare before dropping into the chair behind her desk. "I don't know his name."

"What'd he look like?"

"Kind of light brown hair... Tall, I think... Uh... Hot?" She trailed off weakly, before seeing her friend's expression. "Oh, I'm sorry I'm not a police sketch artist."

Adams shrugged. "Well, that ain't a lot to go on, Mitchell. But you're probably talking about Hicks. 'Cause I know you're not talking about Hudson. He's the guy we just passed. And you could be talking about Weirzbowski, but if you think he's hot then we should re-take your psych-evaluation."

Hicks. She had a name to put to the face. And voice. She was about to ask Adams a little more about him when the other woman swore loudly, apologizing and excusing herself, mentioning a briefing she had to be present for. And then she was gone. 

 

She saw him next at dinner. When she walked into the mess hall he was sat with Adams and Hudson, head bowed over his food as he picked at it. Adams beckoned her over, motioning to the seat next to herself. "Dana, sit."

Hicks' head shot up at the mention of her name, and he looked across at her. She met his gaze, and tried for a weak smile as she sat down. it was a pretty poor effort, and she wasn't surprised when he went back to his food. But Adams wasn't done. "Hicks, have you met Dana? She's the analyst I was talking about a couple of weeks back."

He looked back up, and she could see a hint of a smile as he shook her hand. "Dwayne Hicks."

"Dana Mitchell." Man, he had strong hands. She could appreciate a guy with strong hands. Especially one where she could feel the callouses from holding up a pulse rifle all day long. She could bet that he was strong, too. Strong and -

Her mildly inappropriate train of thought was cut off by Adams talking again. She was introducing her to the Marine they'd passed by earlier. "William Hudson."

"Nice tu' meet you." He also shook her hand before going back to his food. There was chatter and talk all down the table in the mess hall, coming from everyone except Adams, Dana and Hicks. The three of them were silent. Every time Dana looked up, Adams would catch her eye and grin, or she'd look across and see Hicks just looking away. Had he been staring at her? 

Hudson, on the other hand, wouldn't shut up. He was talking to one of the other Marines - Frost, was it? About how long he had on his rotation. "Six months, man. Six fuckin' months and I'm outta here. And you know what I'm doing when I get out? I'm setting up a bar, man! I'm gonna call it _Hudson's_ , and it's gonna have -"

Dana didn't hear the rest of the sentence. She'd nearly spat out her drink when she'd heard it. 

_Adams was fucking Hudson._

She tried to meet her friend's gaze, but for the rest of the meal, Adams remained oddly focused on her pasta, only ever looking up to get a refill of water or answer a question from one of the boys. She refused to look at Dana, though. 

 

"So, Adams."

"I'm not talking to you."

They were in the cargo bay. Dana was supposed to be checking supply orders, making sure everything was in order. She was more interested in catching up with her friend. Or, as Adams put it, 'Stopping me from doing my fucking job, Dana.'

"He's  _cute_!" She tried to protest, but Adams shot her a dirty look and moved off to try and get a free Loader. "Aw, c'mon Adams. I fully support it."

"I literally hate you!" Her friend called over her shoulder as she walked away, leaving Dana to laugh on her own by a crate of explosives. As she stopped, a grin still on her lips, she glanced around the cargo bay. Everyone was working, loading up machinery and weapons. Except one guy. 

Hicks.

There was no mistaking it this time. The guy had been staring. Unless he usually did his job by holding three highly dangerous weapons in one hand and gazing off into the distance. The same area of the distance that she happened to be in. 

She tried another awkward smile, but by this time he'd looked away and gone back to her job. Narrowing her eyes, she scanned the room for Adams, who was clambering up into a Loader on the far side of the room. Dana strolled over, ticking off a couple of random boxes on her checklist. Who the fuck cared about whether or not the Marines were dressed in 'full fatigue gear' anyway? "Hey, Adams."

"I swear to God, Dana." The other woman settled into the Loader and scowled down at her. "I will pick you up with this fucking thing."

"No, it's not about that -"

"Pick you up and shake you."

"Gee, thanks." She said driely, searching the room for Hicks again. He was stood still by the APC, casually looking around the room. Looking for soemthing. "It's about your buddy, Hicks?"

"What about him?"

"I  _think_ he's staring at me." She said, just as his eyes locked onto hers again. She held his gaze for a few seconds before he stepped inside the APC, and she turned to Adams, who was smirking again. "What?"

"Hicks?" It was her turn to chuckle. "Oh, he  _likes_ you, Dana."

"You think?" She glanced back to the open APC doors. 

"Clearly you missed how much he was looking at you last night at dinner." She heard Adams say as she started to move away on the Loader. "If I was you, I'd act fast. As soon as we reach the ground he's got women  _all over him_."

Dana barely heard her. He'd come out of the APC, dusting his hands off and digging around in a crate for some more Pulse Rifles. He definitely was cute...

 


End file.
